Transportation/Trucking — October 2, 2009

Metrolinx Wins Prestigious Canadian Institute of Planners 2009 Award for Excellence

TORONTO, Oct. 2 /CNW/ - Metrolinx Chair, Rob MacIsaac today accepted the Canadian Institute of Planners prestigious national award for Planning Excellence. The Metrolinx regional transportation plan, The Big Move was recognized in the area of Transportation and Infrastructure.

"I congratulate the Metrolinx team on this well deserved recognition of their work." said Minister of Transportation Jim Bradley. "Their award-winning regional transportation plan is the blueprint for the largest transit expansion in half a century. The McGuinty government has already committed $10B towards making this plan an on-the-ground reality."

The Big Move represents the culmination of over a years worth of intensive effort led by the Metrolinx Policy and Planning team and IBI Group Inc.'s consortia of consultants.

One of the largest challenges facing our region is ensuring co-ordination and integration of transportation infrastructure investments, policies and programs to meet further growth in a sustainable way. This plan, now embedded in the new Metrolinx Act, is changing travel around the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

Developed through an extensive public and stakeholder consultation process, the plan sets out more than 1,200 kilometres (km) of new rapid transit lines. These lines will move people more conveniently and more quickly. By 2031, more than 80 per cent of people in the GTHA will live within two km of rapid transit, compared to just 42 per cent currently.

The plan is already a reality. York VIVA Bus Rapid Transit and Sheppard East LRT are the first two projects to have shovels in the ground this fall.

"We thank the public for the thousands of valuable comments that have helped us make our plan even better," said MacIsaac. "Our plan is as much about values, as it is about vehicles. The projects in The Big Move are essential to improving our economy, enhancing our environment and protecting our high quality of life."

Metrolinx is a Crown agency of the Province of Ontario. For more information visit our website www.metrolinx.com.

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For further information: Media contact: Jacquie Menezes, Senior Associate, Public Affairs and Media, Metrolinx, Phone: (416) 874-5923, Cell: (647) 289-4523, Jacquie.Menezes@metrolinx.com, www.metrolinx.com

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